A man who raped a random woman while armed with a meat cleaver after breaking into her apartment has been cleared of criminal responsibility.
Khateebulla Mirza was cleared on mental health grounds by a District Court judge on Tuesday, over the rape in Auburn, in Sydney’s west, in November 2022.
Mirza was also cleared of indecently touching a woman’s breast in the inner west suburb of Marrickville on the same day as the Auburn attack, and touching a woman on the backside outside a building in Zetland the month before.
A court was previously told there was no dispute the 37-year-old committed the acts, but that he was under the delusion he was in a video game at the time.
He pleaded not guilty to eight charges, including sexual touching without consent, aggravated sexual intercourse without consent and assault.
The court heard evidence from two psychiatrists who had treated Mirza and were of the opinion his mental state meant he did not know the acts were morally wrong.
Appearing as a witness for the prosecution, Professor David Greenberg told the court Mirza thought the incident in which he raped the woman was part of “the game”, that they were both players in it, and he had no control over his actions.
“Although he knew the legal wrongfulness, and although he understood the nature of his actions, the quality of his actions, he was acting on a delusional, psychotic belief system where he did not know the moral wrongfulness of his behaviour,” Greenberg told the court.
Mirza also reported feeling overwhelmed from about 2020, because he believed former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian was monitoring him and had come out of the TV as a hologram, telling him to quit his job.
Psychiatrist for the defence, Dr Adam Martin, told the court Mirza reported smoking cannabis on a daily basis and drinking a large amount of alcohol in the period leading up to his offending.
Martin reported Mirza told him “the voices kept telling me that if you do this, you unlock the next stage of the game” and “the person you are doing it to, they’re part of the game, that they were digital versions, that they were consenting to it”.
In the year preceding the attacks, the court was told Mirza involuntarily spent time in a mental hospital.
In delivering his decision, Judge Ian Bourke noted despite Mirza not being criminally responsible, his actions would have a profound and lasting impact on his victims.
Subject to further submissions by the parties, Mirza will be committed as a forensic patient under the control of the Mental Health Review Tribunal, and will not be released while still deemed a risk to himself or the public.
Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyond blue on 1300 22 4636.
